The 5 major distractions and traps that satan uses to keep Christian believers from staying focus in their walk with God and calling includes
- Fear
- Unbelief
- Anxiety / Worry
- Satanic Lies
- Despair
(4) Satanic Lies
John 8:43-44
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is “a liar” and “the father of lies.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the devil is incapable of telling the truth. He may tell a partial – truth to corrupt the whole truth or twist the truth to his nefarious purposes. He twisted the truth when talking to Eve, as Genesis 3:1–5 clearly shows. Satan said, in essence, “If you know good and evil, you’ll be equal to God.”
Lying is popular today. That’s because we have believed the devil’s lie that truth doesn’t really matter. In fact, Satan has convinced many people that there is no such thing as absolute truth, so there can be no absolute lie either.
Majority of Christian believers’ live-in fear and anxiety because of Satan’s lies. The devil cannot “make” us do anything, but he is a master deceiver who is very much experienced at making people believe anything that interferes with God’s plan. Jesus Christ, in contrast, is called “the way, the truth, and the life,” and his plan is for each person to experience life “more abundantly.” (John 14:6)
Here are five satanic lies that cause us to fear and the Biblical truth that sets people free from those fears if they will believe and trust God’s word.
- I can’t
The worst thing about the “I can’t” lie is that it stops us before we start. It fills us with fear as we face our biggest obstacles and challenges. “I can’t overcome alcohol.” “I shouldn’t expect to have a good marriage.” “Everything I touch turns out wrong.” “I’m a failure.” “I can’t follow God.” “I can’t start that business.”
In contrast, God is the creator of potential—and the completer of fulfillment. “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me..” (Philippians 4:13) Yes, that verse is specifically about Paul’s learning to handle both plenty and poverty without being distracted from his life’s purpose by either. No, we can’t do everything, but we can do anything he wants us to do. That includes overcoming our sins and failures by his grace and with his help and accomplishing his will for our lives.
Whether it is something people consider to be great or small, God looks on the heart, and the very act of seeking to serve him is a success. Sometimes failure is an essential part of success. “ Proverbs 24:16-18 “For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.”
The only way to never fail is to never attempt. So don’t be afraid to attempt that which God is leading you to do through prayerful and Biblical wisdom. Don’t fear and believe the lie of “I can’t.”
- God won’t
“God won’t help me.” “God won’t forgive me again.” “God won’t hear me.” God won’t love me.” These are real cries of the hurting heart. And God is ready for that: Psalms 103:13 “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. Verse 14 says, “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
God is not frustrated at our weaknesses and failing. Ask Peter after his denial of Christ. Ask the woman who was so ashamed that she could not even look up, but washed the feet of Christ with her tears. But he is severe to those who stubbornly persist in rejecting his grace. It’s Okay to be weak, but we must guard our hearts against being willfully and stubbornly resistant of God’s grace. The key differences? Sincerity and repentance.
Psalms 34:18-20: 8 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. 20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
- Nobody cares
This is a lie from Satan, “the accuser,” much too close to the first recorded lie. His approach to Eve was that God did not have her best interest at heart. She could have more than God was offering. Although she had known only good, she could know both good and evil. And that experiential knowledge of evil brought pain and misery.
God cares. Romans 8:32-35 declares: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
And people care. It is natural to retreat from people when we hurt, to hide, to isolate ourselves. It is natural, but it is counterproductive. The healing comes as we choose the supernatural, God’s plan. And God’s plan involves accepting the provisions God has made, including people. That is one function of the church: Hebrews:10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching..” That may take letting some people inside your life, opening yourself up, sharing your hurts when you just want to hide. But God intends to use his people. Will everyone respond rightly? Maybe not. In fact, probably not. In any group of people, some will let you down, but in a good church, there will be someone with whom you can connect. One function of pastoral leadership is to help people make those connections. If you are in our area, we would like to help. Please feel free to contact us or come for a visit to a service soon. We are here to listen and we care.
- I don’t matter
You matter to God. John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” YES – You are worth for God to assume human flesh, die on a cross to take the punishment for your sins, and rising again.
You matter, not because of what you can do, not because of who you are, but because of whose you are, if you are a child of God. A loving parent cares for the child, even in the child’s failures. Your own parents are, or were, fallible. But your heavenly father is not.
Yet we know by observation and by scripture that God’s children—and all people—suffer. The “why” behind suffering is a topic of its own, and has been a lifelong passion of Phillip Yancey, who wrote the book Where Is God When It Hurts.” This is a good source for deeper consideration of this topic.
- It’s too late
This is a powerful lie of the devil. The feeling of urgency which should prompt us to action becomes his tool to intensify despair and fear. The feeling of guilt which should prompt us to repentance, this the devil uses
to make us hide from God because of fear instead.
But what does God say? The mercy of God is “new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:23). Psalm 103:8 says, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”
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